1. Technical Field
The disclosure generally relates to forming a charge trap separation in a semiconductor device, and specifically to reducing the number of different machines needed to perform the formation process.
2. Related Art
Charge trap semiconductors have become commercially viable for use in flash memory devices. Charge trap semiconductor configurations provide significant advantages over other configurations by allowing multiple bits to be stored in each individual cell. However, the manufacturing of charge trap semiconductors can be somewhat time-consuming and complex.
Conventionally, several different machines are used to construct charge trap semiconductors for flash memories. For example, charge trap layers are grown on top of source/drain regions and field oxide regions of a base substrate using one or more first machines, such as a PECVD furnace. A second machine, such as track equipment, is then used to coat a thin organic material above the charge trap layers in order to fill gaps and planarize the surface of the semiconductor using a coating and/or spinning process. A third machine, such as an etcher, is then used to etch back the organic material and remove the exposed charge trap layers in order to create the separate cells of the final semiconductor device.
The need to move the semiconductor between different machines during the conventional manufacturing process greatly increases manufacturing time. In addition, the movements between different machines increase the likelihood of contaminating the semiconductor wafer, and therefore potentially decreases manufacturing yield.